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Peak legal body calls for Morrison government to reconsider Porter’s position
At a time when the profession is reeling from sexual harassment allegations, the major legal body for women lawyer organisations has called on Scott Morrison to reconsider whether Christian Porter is still the best fit for the Attorney-General position.
Naomi Neilson
Australian Women Lawyers (AWL) has written to Mr Morrison’s office to register its “alarm” after learning of allegations levelled against the Attorney-General and ask that it consider whether Mr Porter is still an “appropriate person” to hold the position if any of the assertions continue to be sustained against him.
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In the letter, the AWL said it was particularly concerned with the claims he was “deeply sexist”, “misogynistic in his treatment of women” and that he sidelined “women in any kind of forum in which they wanted to be involved in”. It comes after these allegations were aired on ABC’s Four Corners program and contested by Mr Porter in a statement.
“In circumstances where AWL has staunchly advocated against sexual harassment in the profession, and in a year where we have already seen a plethora of allegations on sexual harassment from a former High Court judge, it’s incredibly disheartening to hear allegations that our Attorney-General has modelled such behaviour,” the AWL wrote.
The AWL said the ABC report inferred that there was a “broader pattern of behaviour”, particularly by the Attorney-General, of “abusing their positions” in this space. In order to appropriately address the misconduct, AWL has asked the Prime Minister to review the Members of Parliament Staff policies to encourage confidential reporting.
AWL has also asked that Parliament undertake an independent review of its culture in which the policies work to identify any systemic issues contributing to the ongoing and “alarming” allegations of inappropriate workplace behaviours and sexual harassment.
It should also adopt all recommendations from the Sex Discrimination Commissioner’s Respect@Work report, along with further reforms proposed by the Law Council.
If any of the allegations against Mr Porter are sustained, the AWL urged Mr Morrison’s government to consider whether he should retain his position “given the expectations of the legal profession and his role in upholding the rule of law”.
